Henry Gamble's Birthday Party

source: Henry Gamble's Birthday Party

Awful movie......just awful. Please don't waste your life watching it.

I watched this on Netflix as a lark. I was quite surprised to find it both enjoyable and meaningful. It is atypical of gay-content films as a genre. The 'gay' is more 'by the way' than 'hey, Mary". Really liked the beginning and end. Cole Doman's face holds all the innocence of a somewhat pampered and conflicted middle class boy his age. The contrast between Henry and Logan, the awkward and out gay boy, is well done. The balance provided by smart-ass lesbian characters is not overplayed. The contrast between the twisted lives of the adults and the openness of the youngsters is also well written. The way Henry's older sister acts out that contrast is quite good. This film is outstanding for its quiet subtlety about religious bias and its constriction of human vision and compassion. It unfolds gently with the exception of a slightly contrived crisis involving an ostracized gay man. I recommend it to non-religious people (like me) who may lump all religious folks into a single category.

This is the worst gay-themed movie I have ever seen and that is saying a lot. I am a 69-yo gay man who has probably watched well over 100 gay-themed movies. I am not a snob either. I like some gay films that have been largely panned but have usually found some good in them. But this movie has all the depth, quality, interest and value as a book of jokes about beloved dead pets. About the only person who may find this movie of any interest is a closeted gay in rural south. But I would recommend that that person would better spend their time packing up their car and driving as far away as possible from their present home instead of watching this mess. They may also take a cue from one of the characters and get away from this movie's type of environment before they do themselves some harm. Total waste of my time.

If you're looking to see a lot of character actors do some great work, this is the film for you. This movie has more characters and subplots than "The Poseidon Adventure." The opening scene with birthday boy Henry Gamble and his BFF Gabe seems promising for the first 2 minutes, but then goes nowhere. And even though he's the title character, we'll see less and less of Henry as the film drags on. Most of the characters are likable enough, but we don't spend enough time with any of them to care. There's probably a message about intolerance or unconditional love here, but its lost in a cacophony of clichés: "God love everyone: criminals, addicts, gays ... " or something to that effect. The actors and crew turn in a beautiful piece of work, but the script seems to have been written by a committee intent on being all things to all people. Too bad because the premise is fresh and interesting.

It was like the writers tried to cram seventeen stories into one movie. One lady is super against everything, apparently, and brings up human trafficking, one lady cheated on her husband and doesn't love him, Henry seems to have a crush on his best friend and then asks the random kid who everyone seems off around to kiss him, the grandpa seems pretty chill about people being gay, one guy might be a pedophile??? Two guys are concerned about a whole generation and try to fix the problem with a song that seems to make everyone uncomfortable, and the possible pedophile cuts up his own face because ??? If they had picked like, two of these ideas to run with, it could have been a good movie, but it flashes from point to point with practically no flow or reason, and there's no real exposition on the characters or why they act certain ways towards each other.

A simple setup: One boy's birthday pool party. Everybody plays along and pretends to be happy. But beneath the surface, people's emotions are boiling. While people are having a fun time, deep secret come to light. HENRY GAMBLE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY manages to make statements about religion and about homosexuality without becoming overly political. It manages to convince you of the dark power of peer pressure and church without becoming overly judgmental. It manages to make you feel sexual oppression first-hand, focusing on a subjective perspective of what people really feel rather than what they show to feel. The movie weaves lots of different characters together without becoming incoherent. Many of the characters are just there for a few lines, but they seem real nonetheless. Some of them look like you would want to get to know them better. Others make you feel pity. Throughout all of this, HENRY GAMBLE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY breathes with life and flows from one thing to the next without becoming trite. Watching this movie truly feels like being at a day's long summer party that slowly progresses through people's complex interactions. Carried by superb acting and a vision of what it means to be human, everything comes together in a grandiose yet subtle fashion. Mind blown.

One of those movies that takes over an hour for something to happen and when it finally does happen, you wish it didn't. Also a touch of self-justified Christian intolerance: "you can't choose your race like people who choose to be gay". The intolerance should be kept to Sunday church, not our movie screens. Yuck.

Writer/Director Stephen Cone has crafted a film that on technical merits alone is heads above most films dealing with a gay youth coming of age. Cinematographer Jason Chiu's contributions must be recognized as well. Finally, a fairly strong cast all adds to a film that is confident and ambitious. It may not always achieve, but its parts are greater than the whole. The camera is an observer and moves melodically throughout the film. Yet, cinematographer and director never become showy. Each angle and camera movement is intentional and honest. The lead actors are strong. Their backstories are sometimes revealed through dialogue but their untold stories echo throughout rewarding the audience with so many three dimensional people rarely seen in smaller films. The supporting cast is mostly as strong. A majority of the film deals with teenagers conversing at a birthday party. The written dialogue accurately reflects that world but the subtext of real world drama rings through loudly. Cast and director deserve strong kudos. The pacing of the film is not as strong. Multiple story lines are difficult to balance and juggle. Here writer and editor (both Cone again) show their weaknesses. As well, and no spoiler, the ending is lacking. Technically, it is fitting and true to the world of the film, but that does not discount the audience leaving feeling short changed. A third of the way through the film, I was very excited by what I had seen thus far. Two thirds of the way through the film, I became a tad restless but I was invested in the characters to want to see it through. By the end, I was disappointed based on my initial excitement but not enough to be disenfranchised. Stephen Cone is a talent to be watched. His ambition should be encouraged and nurtured. His cast deserves to be seen in many more projects. Henry Gamble's Birthday Party is a very good achievement and possibly one that will be recognized in future years as a major leaping point for many people.

This is a really lovely film by a filmmaker I had not heard of. Never in a rush to get anywhere, Stephen Cone's film weaves its way so naturally through these intersecting lives, as they jump in and out of the pool at Henry Gamble's 17th Birthday Party. Everyone has a crush on someone else, no one is satisfied, and yet there's nothing melodramatic, just subtle body language, and flashes of accidental honesty. I was immediately intrigued - from the first innocent conversation between two teen boys casually exaggerating the size of their members, to the prophetic line Henry announces to his family, as he looks at the time on the morning of the party, "I was just born." The family is very Christian, dad is the local pastor so there's prayer before meals, and they don't touch alcohol, which makes the homosexual subtext (among other secrets) at the beginning of the movie all the more intriguing. Coming out movies had their heyday, and to do one nowadays requires it to be a lot more, which this movie is. Mr. Cone's delicate hand, and his subtle message of compassion is never overwhelmed by the enormous, talented, relatively unknown cast, or the inherent drama of teenage angst.